From owner-freebsd-hackers Sun May 17 21:43:54 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id VAA01878 for freebsd-hackers-outgoing; Sun, 17 May 1998 21:43:54 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from aaka.3skel.com (aaka.3skel.com [207.240.212.3]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id VAA01815 for ; Sun, 17 May 1998 21:42:40 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from danj@3skel.com) Received: from fnur.3skel.com (fnur.3skel.com [192.168.0.8]) by aaka.3skel.com (8.8.5/8.8.2) with ESMTP id AAA06531 for ; Mon, 18 May 1998 00:42:42 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (danj@localhost) by fnur.3skel.com (8.8.8/8.8.2) with SMTP id AAA06018 for ; Mon, 18 May 1998 00:42:42 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 00:42:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Dan Janowski To: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: system config database... Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG For general comment, exp for JKH: I've been putting brain power into the issue of a configuration system for /etc. I have done something along this path with M4 for a similar purpose. Is M4 too weird to use for something of this scope? (me, I love M4 but it has problems) I do not want to get rid of any of the 'standard' /etc files. This would seem to create additional confusion for immigrants and the like. I am thinking of a default config and a site config (possibly multiple site configs, good for porto users). The defaults will be used when site configs are not specified. Should there be a /config, or a /etc/config? (me, /config) Should I look at adding a statically linked compiled program for boot time generation of /etc files or strictly a shell? (me, non-shell) Some way of having the boot loader pass a site option to the kernel which then becomes either a sysctl or an ENV for use by the configurator? This would be attachable to a unified text or X based editing system that can become a very nice interface for users of new and old vintage. Not to the exculsion of direct vi interaction though. Any thoughts? Dan -- danj@3skel.com Dan Janowski Triskelion Systems, Inc. Bronx, NY To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message